The Hermit of Briggs
by Lapis Philosophorvm
Summary: Edward Elric comes back from his voyage to the West, a year after the Promised Day, after a series of quite fortunate events made him delve in the most mystical levels of Alchemy and the Universe; his research pointed him to a quite unusual man residing at a quite unusual plave -Mt. Briggs. There, his Truth awaits; both the one about the World, and the one about himself.


_**Disclaimer **_

~This story will not be uploaded _very_ regularly, since I'll try to make it a story of a good quality and since I don't have plenty of free time.

~The rating is due to possible events of future chapters that will be related to violence and sexual activity.

I hope you enjoy it! Please review, I would love to receive your feedback about it.

* * *

The streets of Central were very different than the last time Edward Elric had walked through them.

It was probably due to the lack of dead bodies beneath them.

After a year of travelling throughout the West, helping whoever he was able to and learning as much as he could about the world, Edward Elric had decided to return to Amestris. He could have immediately gone to Resembool and reunite with his family, but there was something crucial that he had to take care of first.

Edward ascended the white stairs that lead to the Central Headquarters. He had never expected that his journey would have lead him there, let alone for the reason he was there.

"How can I help you?" said a secretary, as she saw the man approaching her desk.

"I am looking for... Eh... Roy Mustang," he said, unsure of what the Colonel's current grade was.

The woman frowned. "I am really sorry, but Brigadier General Mustang doesn't accept visitors like th-"

"He's an old friend. He shouldn't have a problem."

The secretary sighed. "I apologise, but the Brigadier General is busy and-"

Edward was starting to get irritated. "Just ask him if he wants to see me, and if he doesn't, I will leave at once."

The woman, somehow suspicious of Edward -after all, he looked like a random wayward, carrying a suitcase and a backpack with him- pressed a button on her phone device and raised the antenna. "Brigadier General Mustang? Yes, this is June. I'm sorry to interrupt, but here is mister, eh -what's your name again?"

"Edward," he replied. He was pretty sure Mustang would get who he was, and he had absolutely no intention to catch people's attention. "Tell him I had pretty interesting journeys," he added quickly.

The secretary wasn't pretty satisfied with the reply, as she found it rather indefinite, but she thought that if the man was truly a friend of the Brigadier General, a first name should be enough. The woman found the visitor pretty crazy in general -why the hell would Roy Mustang want to hear of the adventures of this young man's travels? Considering his age and appearance, they should probably be concerning lustful nights and heavy drinks."It's Mr. Edward, sir. He says he has had interesting journeys."

Edward noticed that she had remained silent for a few moments and was worried that Mustang would have either become a complete moron or have forgotten about him. But then, with a quite surprised look at her face, the secretary turned to him. "Eh... The Brigadier General wants me to ask you how tall you were a year ago...?"

"WHO THE HELL DID HE CALL A FLEA-SIZED MIDGET SPECK?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, making the whole reception stare at him.

"B-brigadier general, he started shouting and..."

"I heard him," Mustang replied on the phone, laughing. "So it's really him. Alright, let that kid in."

Kid? The secretary wondered, looking at the man before her. He was of medium height, around 1.70 meters, pretty muscular, and his coat was definitely adult-like. The stranger didn't look like a kid at all.

"Brigadier General Mustang is waiting for you," she finally replied, hanging up the phone. "His office is inside the third door of the second floor."

Ed groaned and headed to the elevator. "That damn col- eh, Brigadier General," he thought. If only he didn't need to speak with him, he would given him a good slap in the face.

As Edward reached Mustang's office, he knocked on the door. "Come iin~" he heard a happy voice, and he sighed, not really being in the mood for Mustang's childish days.

Ed opened the door and glared at Roy Mustang, who was laughing, sitting on his desk opposite to him.

"Fullmetal! Long time no see! You got taller!"

Turning red from anger, Edward wanted to punch him really hard, but tried to keep his rage to himself. "First of all," he said with a shaking voice, "I am no longer Fullmetal." He took his right glove off, and showed his new arm, made of real human skin and not of steel. "I no longer have an automail arm, let alone the fact that I'm not an alchemist anymore."

Mustang laughed. "Alchemist or not, I've got used to calling you Fullmetal," he said. "Moreover, you still have an automail leg, don't you?"

"Well... Yeah, but..." Edward sighed. "Can I sit?"

"Of course you can."

Edward sat, having forgotten how uncomfortable the chairs of the military were. "So, how are things in Central?"

"Smooth," Mustang replied. "Nothing really important has happened since we fought Father. Besides me getting a moustache," he added smiling and pointing on two small bunches of hair that had grown over his upper lip. "Like it?"

Edward burst out laughing. "I'll take that as a yes," Mustang continued. "You know, after the whole Father thing, you and Alphonse have become celebrities."

Ed raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

"Oh, yes, of course. The sacrifices of both of you are extremely appreciated by both the military and the citizens. Let alone that most teenagers of Amestris are in love with you."

"Wh-what?!"

Mustang laughed. "Yeah, the other day I ran into a couple of high school girls fighting about whether you or Alphonse is hotter."

Edward grinned. "And who won?"

Roy Mustang sighed with disbelief; how could one of the men who saved the country be such a _kid_?

"I mean... Eh... How's the Lieutenant?" he added for a quick save.

"She's alright," Roy said and looked out of the room's window -from there, one could get a bird eye's view of the whole of Central.

"Why did you get all melancholic? Did you break up or something?" Edward chuckled.

Mustang groaned. "Leave me alone," he sighed.

"Seriously, what's up?"

"It's not like I'm going to discuss this with _you_!"

Edward remained silent.

"Okay, I'm kind of afraid to do anything with her, that's all."

"Mustang... I-it's been two years..."

"Any other news? What did you come to talk to me about?"

Edward groaned. "I really want to punch you now, actually." How much of an _idiot_ could he be? It was quite apparent that he was crazy about Riza, yet he was that much of a coward that he couldn't even have asked for a date. He didn't think there was much chance of him getting rejected -Riza might seem a little aloof, but Edward always supposed she did this because of her job, as well as due to the difference of status among the two. The Lieutenant was not the kind of woman who would like gossip going around about her, and her going out with Mustang would cause exactly that.

Not that there wasn't already gossip going around about these two -Edward remembered one day when he had heard Breda and Havoc talking about it. He clearly recalled them wondering whether these two had intimate moments in Mustang's office when nobody was there, and their imagination would go really, _really_ wild.

"Why? Oh, I get it. That's why you came -I thought you'd want to punch me when I heard you wanted to see me," Mustang said. "I mean, I figured that you'd have gone to Resembool and got really mad at me about this."

Edward's eyes widened. "About what?!" he yelled. "I-I haven't been to Resembool yet! I wanted to punch you because you're so much of a _chicken _with Riza!"

"Ah, what an idiot am I." Mustang sighed. "I should have imagined that this could be the case. Well, I suppose I have no choice other than to tell you, you'd soon find out yourself anyway."

Edward angrily grabbed Mustang from his vest. "T-tell me!"

"I sent Winry-chan to Briggs."

Edward's eyes widened and his hand started shaking. "Wh-_why would you do that_?! W-winry has nothing to do with the army, she's just a _girl _and you -you sent her to fucking _Briggs_!"

"You underestimate her strength," Mustang sighed. "Besides, it was her choice. She wanted to learn more about Northern automail, so I figured out it would be good training for her."

"So you thought you could just go to Resembool and take her away?! I bet you didn't even ask Pinako, you stupid shitty bas-"

"I didn't go to Resembool," Mustang interrupted him, regretting deeply having brought this issue up." She had paid a visit to Riza, we had a little chat, she mentioned northern automail and she asked me to hire her temporarily and send her there. That's all."

Ed hissed. "Why would Winry ever come and visit Lieutenant Hawkey? Your story is not really believable."

Mustang rose from his seat and started walking around the room. "Oh, they're pretty good friends," he said and stretched. Winry came once every month for a chat with her. It's kinda irritating, they're always giggling and they never let me join their conversations. You can ask Riza if you don't believe me."

"Nah, I don't need to." Edward said and smirked. "I'll go ask _Winry_."

Roy Mustang frowned. "You're going to Briggs? Aren't you going to stop by Resembool?"

"Al is in Xing, and Granny is on a trip to Rush Valley -she wrote a letter to me." He sighed. "I was only going to go there for Win."

"So now, instead of Resembool, you're gonna go to Briggs?"

"I was gonna go to Briggs anyway," he chuckled. "With all that, I forgot to tell you why I'm here, Mustang." Edward pointed at the Brigadier General's chair. "You might want to sit for this one."

Roy Mustang raised his eyebrow in disbelief, yet did as Edward told him. "What happened? What's in Briggs?"

"Brigadier General Mustang," Edward said and frowned, "in the West, I met people with knowledge very different from ours, and from them I learned things about the Universe that I could have never imagined. A friend-"

"Be quicker," Mustang groaned.

"In Briggs resides a good friend," Edward continued, "a friend who knows a way for me to get my Gate of Truth back."


End file.
